Even though the action-adventure film doesn't open
until March 21, it sold nearly half of the site's tickets
for the entire day, outselling the next biggest seller by nearly
five to one, Fandango said.

Early tracking on “Divergent,” which is based on Veronica Roth's
bestselling novels and stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James, has
it opening in the same range as “Twilight,” another
book-based young adult film that became a blockbuster franchise
for Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment. They've already
scheduled sequels for “Divergent” in March of 2015 and 2016.

“‘Divergent’ is off to a fantastic start,” said Dave Karger,
chief correspondent for Fandango. “Its first-day ticket sales are
showing all the signs of a blockbuster in the making. Veronica
Roth's gripping story combined with effective marketing have
resulted in a movie with strong want-to-see sentiment among its
core audience.”

The anticipation over “Divergent,” directed by Neil Burger, has
been heightened by the success of “Twilight” and “The Hunger
Games” — another Lionsgate young adult blockbuster — and the
failure of a string of recent book-based, teen-targeting movies
like “The Host” and “Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” which
their studios had hoped would launch franchises.

The first “Twilight” movie opened to $69 million in November
2008. It eventually took in $192 million and spawned four
sequels. Overall, the franchise brought in $3.3 billion globally.

In March 2012, the first “Hunger Games” opened to $152 million,
and its “Catching Fire” sequel debuted to $158 million last year.
Together, they've taken in $1.5 billion worldwide — with two more
installments coming at Thanksgiving over the next two years.